When looking at the case of McIvor v. Canada and the bill that came as a result of it, it can be understood how lawmakers attempt to deal with social problems by making amendments to ineffective and discriminatory laws. The inequality and discrimination against Aboriginal women in regards to their status under the Indian Act is a case of a social problem in Canadian law that has resulted in amendments made to existing laws. What resulted from this particular social problem were the amendments made to the Indian Act by Bill C-3, with the purpose of promoting genderequality in Indian registration. This bill came as a response to Court of Appeal for British Columbia in the case of McIver v. Canada, a case that exemplified the discriminatory nature …show more content…
This social problem can be seen in the legislation of the Indian Act prior to 1985, where it is apparent that the manner in which men and women were treated significantly different. How women were treated under the act was if she were to marry a non-Indian man, she would lose her status. In contrast to a man marrying a non-Indian woman, he would be able keep his status and his wife would then be entitled to Indian status. It can be seen “...with the coming into force of s. 15 of the Charter on April 17, 1985, the need to amend the law took on new urgency, as it was clear that the then-existing regime discriminated on the basis of sex” (Memorandum: Summary of the McIvor Decisions 5). Prior to the creation of Bill C-3 was the case of McIvor v. Canada, which addressed the social issue of the inequality, faced by Aboriginal women in regards to their status under the Indian Act. The basis of the case of McIvor v. Canada was that McIvor’s son; Grismer should have been able to pass Indian status onto his children, regardless of the fact that his wife was non-Indian. The complaint being made in this case was …show more content…
When considering the social problem that resulted in the amendments being proposed in the bill Gender Equity in Indian Registration, the sociological theories of liberal pluralism and liberal feminism can be applied. Most commonly associated with the sociologist Max Weber, the theory of liberal pluralism can be related to the enactment of Bill C-3. In the views of Max Weber human nature is based around competition of the seeking of power, this is based on the assumption that people will strive to achieve the most out of their life. It was also believed by Weber that “...individuals are possessed of certain innate human rightsand freedoms that could only be realized through society. The task, therefore, is to ensure that the competition is organized in a way that is most amendable to realizing those rights and freedoms” (Comack 20). Based on this the purpose of the Gender Equity in Indian Registration Act is to amend those rights and freedoms that have been infringed upon due to the inequitable provisions in the Indian